After suggesting that Ambrosia Kelley — the young actor who played Nikki Bell, the daughter of Fox’s Vernita Green in the first Kill Bill movie — reprise her role 16 years later, Fox brought up another, more widely-known name. “If not, if I could have my dream daughter? Zendaya. She’s tall, she’s got those long legs; she would kick ass!” Fox elaborated on the possibility in a subsequent interview with NME. “[Casting Zendaya] would probably green light this project. Because her and Uma are both very tall, and it would just be kick-butt, and I love her…Hopefully now we can put that out, like ‘Tarantino, cast Zendaya!’ And spark his interest to put it on the fast track. Wouldn’t it be amazing?” After roles in the MCU Spider-Man films and HBO’s Euphoria, Zendaya’s career is accelerating. She has a part in the upcoming Dune adaptation as well, and a nod from Tarantino certainly doesn’t seem out of the question. Of course, being in demand might make it less likely that she could or would play Nikki, and she hasn’t publicly expressed interest, which makes this whole conversation conjecture. The question of who would play Nikki is key because it’s the most obvious place to start with a sequel. In the first Kill Bill movie, immediately after The Bride kills Vernita, Nikki comes into the room. “It was not my intention to do this in front of you,” The Bride tells her. “For that I’m sorry. You can take my word for it, your mother had it coming. When you grow up, if you still feel raw about it, I’ll be waitin’.” Tarantino has said that he would also want to focus on Nikki the adult’s quest for vengeance against the Bride in a third Kill Bill film. He’s also said that he’s only going to direct one more film, which has to make the odds of Kill Bill: Volume 3 — with or without Zendaya — just a bit longer.
